ideas for creative actions

It was suggested in the "why is Chicago so apathetic?" thread that we come up with ideas for creative actions. You know, something beyond the usual march/chant/candlelight vigil formula. So I'm starting this thread to encourage others to post any unusual ideas they have for actions...things that will get people's attention, and encourage people to listen to the issues and get involved. Don't be shy or feel silly! The sillier, the better, as long as the message gets across.

We seek to revive and expand the social traditions around textiles and other hand-craft work.

We foster community and provide opportunities for dialogue across class, gender, ethnicity, age and other social boundaries.

We engage in the sharing of skills, knowledge and ideas.

We promote small-scale, local production and trade.

While our focus is on knitting, we welcome other forms of textile hand-craft such as quilting and crochet. Some of us feel that macrame is not a tool for social change ;-)

Some people see the word "Revolutionary" and automatically assume violence. The knitting circle is not a revolution of violence and destruction. The knitting circle is a constructive revolution - we are creating community and local independence which, in this corporate society, is a truly revolutionary act.

Answers

By the way, I forgot to add, the Revolutionary Knitting Circle (the
one I listed is based in Canada) organized a Global Knit-In, on June
26, a day of action to challenge the G8. Any knitters out there who
are interested, check out their website for details ;)

Since there are 10 men on Illinois Death Row that were torured by
Chicago Police detectives working under Jon Burge and nobody has
ever been indicted for these crimes----a People's Tribunal could be
organized to hear testimony from family members along with human
rights workers and lawyers. If Jon Burge is found guilty , a team
could be dispatched to Florida to serve a symbolic arrest warrant on
him. (After being forced into early retirement after extensive
coverage by the Chicago news media, Burge spends his time fishing on
his boat in Florida). The team could be "trailed" by news reporters
and it would be a creative way to bring police brutality into the
spotlight of the media.

I think these are all fantastic ideas. The last one, especially, has
an urgency about it. Sending people down to Florida would cost $$$,
of course. There could always be a hook-up with people in
Florida.

I've always thought that there should be some creative committee that
just devotes itself to coming up with creative ideas ALL THE TIME,
lending its services to different causes. It just seems that
different causes I've been involved in always struggle with getting
the creative stuff done --> new ideas for actions, artwork, graphics,
etc. A group that would do ongoing graphic campaigns but also other
forms of creativity -- street performance, guerrilla art & sculpture,
even the writing of tracts.

I realize that the Dept. of Space and Land Reclamation was trying to
do this (in a loose fashion), but that doesn't seem to be an ongoing
thing.

And then there's this division between the officially designated
'artists' - whether students, recent graduates, or professionals - and
the laity. That bothers me. I was once in a meeting - there was an
art school grad there - and I felt that she was sort of condescending
to me and the others, making all sorts of assumptions about our
education levels and understanding of art (if she only knew my
background, which I don't rub in people's faces), simply because we
hadn't 'earned' the right to call ourselves artists.

Jane-- Your idea about the creative committee is good, but what I
would worry about with something like that is having the creativity
become stifled by the very fact that there is a committee organized in
the first place to produce it. You know what I mean?

I know that this is all theoretical, but it's just something that
occurred to me. The best art and creative protest comes from the
heart. It comes from the people who truly believe in what they are
doing....whether that is anti-corporate globalization, or anti police
brutality, or feminist activism. I would want to let the people who
feel really passionate about these individual subjects come up with
their own creative actions that are specific to their cause. What I
would worry about, if there were such a thing as a creative committee,
would be that something would be lost in the translation. I'm not
saying that WOULD happen, but it could.

Not to nitpick or anything ;) It is an interesting line of thinking
though. What if there WAS a Committe of Activist Creativity? I
wonder how that would pan out...

Right. Maybe 'committee' is a bad word. Actually, it is a bad word -
it smacks of voting and having to 'get permission' from everyone else.
I totally understand about the stifling thing, because that happens to
me all the time.

The thing is, there is always this tension between your 'pure' concept
and having to get other people to do it with you. I've found that
things don't always turn out the way I thought they'd be, and that the
project I'm doing isn't always the one I'd hoped for, but what comes
out is equally satisfying and sometimes I learn from that. It's just
really hard to do things on your own - everything you communicate has
the potential to be renegotiated and/or misunderstood. I think the
trick is to allow for variances in interpretation in the conception of
your project, to borrow a principle from design.

I don't like working in large groups because there is too much
stifling going on - I don't like large group dynamics, but I find that
in smaller groups, I am willing to do a lot of negotiation. I don't
care so much about being an 'auteur'. So I was thinking of people
bringing things to larger groups, and then smaller groups agreeing to
take on that project.

It's just a pipe dream. But it's actually kind of inspired by ad
agencies and design firms...I'm sure someone's gonna ream me for
drawing inspiration {horrors} from the corporate world, but it's that
kind of nay-saying that is really turning me off to a lot of activism.
No humor, no irony.

There have been peoples tribunals on Burge before... but the idea of
going to Florida is really excellent and can't be mudded down with a
bunch of recruiters from some anachronous office furniture factory,
dues seeking trots.

i anyone is really serious about that idea. i can put you in touch
with the kind of people who could work with you on that.

I would like to address Jane Yes comments toward artists, or
"trained" artists (whatever they are).

I think it is a bit of "rotten apples" metaphor, some and many
times amounts of artists can be annoying and hold their
education above the rest. that goes with any bullshit
specialization or "inner circle";ie, punk rock lifestyle vs. ostensibly
traditional lifestyles, long term activists vs. new comers, even
vegan vs. vegetarian and non-vegetarian . but I hope the
generalization does not stick. Working and collaborating within
the activist scene where I am from, the "educated" artists and
"lay" artists were indistinguishable. As far as I could tell most of
the artists worked along and with each other regardless of
education. To be honest, most "educated" artist I know feel their
degress were pretty much unnecessary as far as creative output.

I do remember one person calling artists some perjorative
phrases which reminded me of some anachronistic communist
rhetoric, but if weren't for the art collectives contribution the
protests and demonstration would be dull.
I have an "education" in art, but actually I never mention it (except
for right now) and would never hold it above anyone's head just
because they don't..

Please don't let one snob spoil all "educated" artists.

anyhow, on to other matters. I want to dress up in costumes or
some sort of fun work garb wearing signs saying
"anti-gentrification team" and volunteer around the community
picking up litter and other things. Of course, this idea is
definately up for modification and collaboration. If anyone likes it
and wants to join in that would be great.

also some real cool sites with creative ideas are
www.rtmark.com
adbusters is clever
crimethink is always fun
www.complacent.org

Many years ago during the Vietnam war a small direct action group
dyed the Chicago River red because the blood was still flowing in
Vietnam as U.S. bombs fell. It got great press and it was a situation
"free" arrest situation----the charges were dropped the same day
because we used the same type of non-polluting food coloring as the
city does on St. Patrick's Day ! It seems to me (and I'd NEVER
advocate anything illegal) that if the U.S. attacks Iraq--this
could be a good response. It could also be used to show that
capitalism "bleeds" the people of the world every single day.

light shows on buildings are so fun. bring projectors with
political and social concerns. of course, maybe a focused topic
would be good. but it reaches people, can be done guerrilla, and
there can be some empowering moments. i guess, it is one way
to reclaim the streets any night of the week.

Posting in a small font is a very good idea.I want to dress up in costumes or some sort of fun work garb
wearing signs saying "anti-gentrification team" and volunteer around
the community picking up litter and other things. Of course, this idea
is definately up for modification and collaboration. If anyone likes
it and wants to join in that would be great.

I had an idea along these lines. I was thinking of altering 'for
sale' signs or signs advertising new condos or corporate big box
developments, etc., adding sarcastic messages. Also, you can buy 'for
sale' signs at places like Home Depot and the hardware store and
probably do all sorts of creative things with them.

I cannot recommend enough the act of shopping as a brainstorm tactic -
hardware stores, thrift stores, home improvement places. Also this
store called American Science & Surplus is really excellent - you just
get ideas looking at things. I've got a pile of plastic army
guys that I bought at a dollar store. Maybe I'll hang them
from trees or something.

I did a bad thing this weekend - I st#le a huge 'God Bless America'
sign that was sticking in one of those grassy patches between the
sidewalk and the curb. I don't know if that counts as theft. It's
taking up lots of space in my apartment...I'm gonna alter it.

This 'art committee' thing can even be like a secret society - we
don't have to have meetings or anything - people can claim membership
and act in the name of the committee if they so desire. I suppose it's
not secret if I post about it here. There was some artists group
posting shit on Indymedia several months ago that made similar
claims.

i am pretty sure slide projectors and sometimes moving
projectors can be checked out at the local library or at least the
big one. they can be found at thrift stores, pretty economical too.
plug into some outdoor socket.

then, images can be found at local libraries and art centers.
sometimes they have pretty open access to slides and film trays.
also, many times people have their own from growing up.

or one could take the found slides (i find them frequently) and
just marker whatever suitable message.

one could sort out to find Picasso's "guernica" which was an
anti-war statement and many more.

but instead of secret society, it would like more of an open and
anonymous collective. it would operate more in cells with a hub
to post actions. of course it would be reminiscent of dslr, but it
would be great to have a website which posted it and announced
the creative chicago actions.

There was one anti-war protest where they projected images from
Al-Jazeera on a building. That was one of the best things that was
done at any rally I've been to.

I might want to borrow that slide concept for one of my own concepts,
which is a symbolic 'moving' of the landfills south of the city. Most
of the city's garbage goes to the south of the city to these gigantic
landfills, and people who live around there, like in Altgeld Gardens,
and also the people who live opposite the river, have claimed high
rates of cancer and such. It really smells around there. I wanted to
photograph or document the landfill in some way and symbolically
'move' all of that waste to the north side or suburbs somewhere. It's
just a very rough concept that I play with in my head sometimes. It
might be something to think about for Earth Day, but it may be too
late for that.

I have access to an old slide projector, I don't know if it works, but
it did last time I used it.

In my line of work, I may be able to buy some slides of anti-
war artwork if they are for sale (with my own money, not the boss').
I may also - no, scratch that- I can obtain any images you want
- not just art but ironic images or whatever. Slides are easy enough
to get made - the trick is photographing the images so that the slides
turn out well.

I wonder if digital projectors can be rented. They use them in art
classes. Increasingly, art schools are dumping the old slides and
slide projectors in favor of digital images. If we could get our hands
on one, that would be really easy for me, since I have access
to all the facilities for scanning and producing digital images. And
the possibilities would be endless : we could make collages,
informational text arranged artistically...then scan it all. I can
look into this. I'm serious - if people want to do this....well, get
in touch because I can look into it and I may be able to bring this to
other interested folks. --J.Yes, you know the address.

Please be patient - I am having a very bad and busy week. Also, I
have trouble accessing my bust account from home, so I can't e-mail
from it on weekends anyway. Tomorrow and Friday are the only days that
are not bad for me. I want to do it, but please be patient.

Next week is Spring Break for me. Friday I am v. busy, Sat. is
occupied as well, Sunday I'm spending Easter with the family. I
honestly can't spend much time on e-mail right now, so that is why I
haven't e-mailed. Next week will be much clearer for me.

Last night I attended a presentation by a Voices In The Wilderness
activist and it got me thinking about the slide show idea. I suspect
that VITW has some slides of the devastation that has been caused by
U.S. bombs and the embargo that could be used in a slide show action.
It would be wild to show 2-3 slides like this followed by one that
says "NO WAR" or "RESIST". Anyway, to make a long story short--the
slide show could be used as a tool to counter the drumbeat of war that
smirking GWB keeps putting out. I'd be willing to assist with whatever
effort is made-----so keep me posted.

i don' t think low tech matters. there are ways to make slides.
they don't need to be slick and that is what i personally like about
them. if you want to get involved and don't mind just cutting and
pasting. one could make slides with a marker, thin boardstock or
thin cardboard and cellophane (or any thin transparent sheet). i
have made some with clear candy wrappers i have found. some
of the wrappers have "pop" colored print on them which make
them real nice when projected.

i am sure there are many cool things to do and interesting
approaches without having access to projectors or slides.

i just thought of another one (it's not mine, many people do this
one), the walk/don't walk pedestrian signs at corners can be
manipulated with some tools and a little effort. instead of
walk./don't walk it could read make love/not war. the possibilites
are endless.

Derry - I posted another reminder about the group on Indymedia, so we
may attract some more people. The Walk / Don't Walk thing is
fantastic. I am on the DSLR list - should I let those people know, or
are there sensitivity issues with regard to privacy here? Of course,
this is not private, so I don't know why I'm asking. DSLR people might
be *very* interested.

The A-zone can stay open later depending on whether an A-zone
member is there and willing to 'sponsor' this (basically just be
there for the duration of the meeting). I've been there as late as
midnight.

I get off work at 5, so it's a little tough for me to make it at 5
exactly.

Then there's always El Cid, the Mexican place down the street. I've
been to meetings there when there's been an overflow at A-zone.

wow. a-zone charges $20? that would be funny if it wasn't so strange.
wait, it is just funny. $20 for a meeting. radical a-zone, you are
the bomb! step right up, only $20 and you too can join the movement
against money. lol.

Okay, Thursday at 7 it is. I think the Conaway Center in the 1104 S.
Wabash building would be best for now. If I can find some info on an
open classroom closer to the Loop, I will post here, but as of yet, I
don'tknow. 1104 S. Wabash - that's one block north of the Roosevelt
stop. The Conaway is a big cafeteria-type thing - go in the front
doors and make a right at the security desk. I've held meetings there
before, and security has said nothing, but I'll be around anyway to
clear up any potential ??s from security.

if anyone's going, I may be a little late. It turns out that I had
this other function that I must go to that I had forgotten about. The
function is slightly earlier. I will head over at 7 and get there
between 7-7:30. That is, if anyone is showing up. I'm not the one w.
the slide projectors...

anyone interested in marching in the april 28 carnival against
capitalism with a may-day type group wearing orange
safety/construction vests, hard hats, and try to aquire/obtain
orange construction/barrier nettings found everywhere there is
street construction? hoping to make hammocks as protest...

anyone interested contact the above email or just show up on
the streets.